Broken Wings
by Angel Weasel-Woman
Summary: AUish When Sasuke sprouts a pair of Angel wings one day, a whole new secret of the Uchiha clan is revealed.
1. Pain

_The Angels came from above and the Humans saw the Light _

_With words of Love, the Angels came to Be One with Humans _

_With Want and Need, the Race began to grow _

_But, as Always, with Light there must Come Dark _

_Light must Fight Dark for Balance _

_Light Always had _

_Light Always Will _

_And now, _

_With the Birth of Light and Dark _

_It shall Begin _

_Again _

Sasuke absently reached up to gently rub his shoulder, feeling the pain spasms coming sooner and sooner.

"Sasuke-kun?" he heard Sakura ask softly beside him, watching his intently with soft aqua eyes. "Is something wrong?"

Quickly he pulled his hand away, stuffing it in one of his pockets. He bowed his head slightly to shade his eyes with his blue-black bangs and gave her a look he knew to be arrogant before shaking his head slightly.

"Of course not."

Even without being able to see her properly through his hair, he could practically _feel_ the little hearts floating around her head and the stars sparking in her eyes as she nodded, dazedly. On the other side of him, he could hear Naruto growl something about Sasuke. The dark-haired boy merely closed his eyes and leaned up against the railing of the red bridge, feeling the sun's rays pounding on him from above.

He had given up all hope that Kakashi would arrive on time, at least once.

Another spasm ran though his shoulders and down his spine and he could feel the flesh on his back around this shoulder blades stretching slightly as two hard lumps quivered slightly, just under his skin.

It's going to be soon, he thought, commanding his body not to react to the pain. I just hope it's not _too_ soon.

Finally, at long last, Kakashi appeared atop one of the red arches over the bridge.

"Hello," the silver haired Jounin said, raising one hand in greeting.

"You're late!" both Naruto and Sakura yelled, as was their usual greeting.

"Sorry - a lady asked me to stop so she could draw me."

"Lame excuse, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura grumbled, folding her arms across her chest as Inner-Sakura yelled several _very_ impolite words and Naruto whined.

"Hey, hey!" Naruto called, as Kakashi leapt from the arch to the actual bridge. "Did you get us a new mission at least?"

"Of course. One I'm certain you are all familiar with."

* * *

As the sun set on Konohagakure and Kakashi set off to turn in the mission report, Sasuke cursed the very name that damn cat, his eye twitching slightly as Sakura gently applied the disinfectant to the four parallel scratches on his cheek with a small cotton ball. He had been ready to pounce on the thing when he'd had another back spasm — so far the worst one yet — causing him to fall just _before_ it.

No wonder Naruto hated it so much - those claws _stung_.

Noticing his faint signs of discomfort, Sakura blushed slightly and said softly, "Sorry, Sasuke-kun. But, like they say, if it burns that means it's working."

Sasuke just grunted something as Sakura placed the cotton down and gently applied a bandage to his cheek. Beside him, Naruto grumbled, flinching as he ran a stinging ointment over the various scratch and bite marks that lined his arms and face. As Sakura turned to replace the supplies back in the Aid-kit, Naruto suddenly grinned hopefully and leaned forward.

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan. Could I, maybe, walk you home today?"

Sakura slammed the lid down on the Aid-kit and said sharply, "No."

Naruto twitched slightly, turning to glare at Sasuke as Sakura suddenly said cheerily, "But I'll walk you home, Sasuke-kun."

"No," Sasuke said as he stood and began walking off. He focused his mind on keeping his shoulder blades from twitching as the two lumps, now stretching down to the middle of his back, under his skin began quivering fiercely. Not here, he thought desperately. Not here, not _now_. Unwilling to see if the lumps would obey his commands, he quickened his pace from a walk to a fast jog.

Naruto stood, shoving his hands in his pockets as Sasuke walked off, glaring at the boy's back. Stupid prick, he thought moodily. Why does Sakura-chan even like _him_.

He was about to turn and go off to his own apartment when he noticed Sasuke's shirt give a slight quiver just before he bolted down the street. Frowning, he waved distractedly at Sakura and rushed after his teammate, wondering about what he'd just seen.

"Sasuke!"

Crap! Sasuke glanced behind him, seeing Naruto running to catch up with him. Why was the dobe following him? Suddenly, a wave of pain shot up his spine and he gasped, stumbling and falling face-forward.

"Sasuke?"

Naruto dropped to his knees beside Sasuke as the boy cried out in pain, eyes clenched shut, tears of pain rolling down his cheeks, and fingers twitching, searching from something to grab. His back, under his shirt, was… thrashing. Violently. As though something was trying to get out.

"Sasuke - what the hell is going on?!" Naruto demanded.

Sasuke cried out in pain, spittle flying from his lips. "My… My shirt! Get it off!"

"What?!"

"Get it - ahh! - off!"

Naruto stared at Sasuke in disbelief for a few moments before taking the hem of the boy's shirt in his hands, feeling something brush up against his hand through the cloth. Shuddering slightly, Naruto grabbed a kunai from his belt pouch and ran it up though Sasuke's shirt, cutting it from the boy's body.

The cloth fell, exposing Sasuke's back and Naruto gasped. It wasn't the vast multitude of long scars, both old and new, that littered across Sasuke's back (mostly his shoulder blades) that made him recoil in disgusted horror, but the two dark patches under Sasuke's skin that thrashed, pressing against the skin and stretching it almost to the point of ripping.

Sasuke cried out again, taking his shirt from his body and twisting it into a hard knot. With quivering hands, he brought the torn cloth to his mouth and bit down on it to avoid biting through his tongue, as well as burying his nails into it.

Suddenly, there was a loud, watery, ripping noise, a wet splattering and a gasp from Naruto, followed a split-second later by searing pain from his back that caused darkness to take over Sasuke's eyes.

The pain had ended for now.

* * *

Naruto: -glares at Angel- What's with you focusing on Sasuke all of a sudden.

Kakashi: And the new "motion" symbol.

Angel: 'Cause I like to torture him and 'cause FF.net seems to have decided that asterisks do not, in fact, exist. -sits in Kakashi's lap and sighs- One more day… Just one more! -cuddles Kakashi-

Kakashi: -attempts to read Icha Icha Paradise around her-

Angel: -decides to ignore that- Nine, do the disclaimer.

Nine: Why me?

Angel: You haven't said anything yet.

Nine: -sticks tongue out at Angel- Angel does not own Naruto. If she did, it would look like crap and have shit like this in it. -gets Icha Icha Paradise thrown at her-

Kakashi: Hey… I was reading that.

Angel: Meh. -glomps him tighter- So, till next time!


	2. Wings

A sudden, sharp wave of pain shot through Sasuke's back and his eyes flew open. Hissing as the sudden rush of fading sunlight burned his eyes, he squinted into his shirt.

"Sasuke?" fluttered Naruto's voice into his ear.

Releasing his white-knuckle grip on his shirt and unclenching his jaws, the dark-haired boy lifted his head as far as he could and fixed an onyx eye on Naruto, noticing the blonde splashed with blood and looking pale.

"W… What… What in the hell are those?!" Naruto cried, pointing a shaking finger at Sasuke's back.

With pain shooting down his spine with every movement, Sasuke glanced over his shoulder, his eyebrows quirking ever so slightly. Stretching out from the bloody, scarred mess that was his back, a pair of crimson coated wings twitched slightly. Rivets of blood trickled between the feathers and droplets fell from the tips. His eyes flicked to his back and he could see the two fresh gashes in his flesh, starting at his waist and moving to his shoulder blades from where the wings had ripped.

"They're big," Sasuke breathed, bringing his quivering arms beneath him.

"Sasuke? Hey — listen to me, bastard! What the hell are you doing?

Sasuke continued to ignore Naruto as he pushed himself up with shaking arms, pain threatening to black him out again. Pushing himself to his feet, he swayed slightly, feeling waves of blood flow down his back and splash to the ground.

"Need to clean them," he murmured dazedly.

"Oh, no," Naruto said, standing as well. "You will not leave until you explain."

"They'll stain," Sasuke continued to mumble, not noticing Naruto. He took a small, painful step before pitching forward. He would have hit the ground a second time had Naruto not reached out and caught the bloody boy. He clenched his teeth and screwed his eyes shut as tears of pain once more leaked out.

"All right, Sasuke," he heard Naruto grumble. "I'll take you home — but I won't leave until I get some answers."

With the sun almost completely set, it was simple for the two boys to make their way to Sasuke's apartment complex without being noticed. And it was only a miracle, in Naruto's eyes, that no one had noticed them, bleeding and cursing, stumbling up to Sasuke's door. By that time, Sasuke had become, somewhat, more coherent and had thus managed to help Naruto find his keys.

Stumbling in through the door, and kicking it closed, Naruto gently lay Sasuke down on a near by, navy blue sofa. With groggy words, Sasuke told Naruto where to find a bucket, a sponge, a special soap for his wings, and some painkillers.

After a few moments, Naruto returned with a sudsy bucket in his hands and a bottle of painkillers in his pocket. Sasuke took about a handful of the small, white pills as Naruto kneeled beside the sofa, taking the sponge to Sasuke's back. As he cleaned, he attempted to look for the gash made in Sasuke's skin, but he only managed to find a pair of fresh, bright red scars.

"Those are the only wounds that heal fast," Sasuke mumbled, feeling as though his head were wrapped thickly in cotton and knowing the painkillers were working. Dimly, he felt Naruto stretch out one of his bloody wings and begin to wipe it down.

"Just what the hell are these?" Naruto demanded, seeing that, when the blood was washed away, Sasuke's wings were a bright and almost blinding white.

"Wings, dobe. What else?"

Naruto decided to ignore the insult. "Well, why do you have wings? And how come I've never seen them before?"

Sasuke stared blankly ahead for a bit before folding his arms before him, burning his face in them and grunting. Naruto fumed slightly, wringing out the bloody sponge. Without thinking, he took a handful of clean feathers and gave a sharp tug, but not hard enough to pull any out.

Even though the drug-induced haze, Sasuke felt the pain, causing him to jerk up with a yelp. He turned to glare at Naruto who merely looked at him with narrowed eyes and said, "Tell me."

Unable to come up with a respectful comeback through the cotton, Sasuke groaned and buried his head back into his arms.

"Fine. I'll tell you. If —" Sasuke flicked his still dirty wing, once more sending droplets of blood to splash on Naruto's cheek "— you finish cleaning."

"Deal," Naruto said quickly as he stretched out Sasuke's wing to clean it.

* * *

And thus chapter two is done. Since I feel as though I am about to pass out as of now, I will have no muse arguing tonight and post this tomorrow (if I remember). I don't own Naruto and, so, till next time! -yawn-


	3. Legend

"It all began many generations ago," Sasuke said, recalling the story his mother used to tell him all the time. "The exact number is lost, but it was well before any of us were even thoughts. There was once a young man who's name was Uchiha Banzen."

"'Perfection'?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to one side slightly.

"Yes. He was supposed to be the most handsome human, graced with many talents. He was also a… hero, you could say, to the people of his village. Everyone looked up to him and loved him.

"It's said that one day, an Angel named Rubii was looking upon the Earth one day when she caught a glimpse of him. She fell in love instantly, and decided to go to him, descending to the Earth with the light of the full moon. She sought him out and they met, supposedly right where the Uchiha manor is located. Rubii was supposed to be the most beautiful of all Angels, and so Banzen fell in love with her the moment his eyes fell on her."

Naruto groaned as he washed out the rag, sticking his tongue out at nothing in particular. "Why do all legends have instantaneous love-at-first-sight? It never seems real."

"Because then they would take too long to tell," Sasuke grumbled. "Now shut-up, there's still more!"

"More," Naruto grumbled, "goodie."

Sasuke ignored the boy and continued, "Rubii could only stay on the Earth as long as the full moon was in the sky, otherwise she wouldn't be able to return to Heaven. And so as all tales go, she stayed with him that night and many others for many months, returning each time to heaven on the moon's light.

"But as Rubii looked from heaven, there was a demon named Tama who looked up from Hell. She too fell in love with Banzen and so thus hated Rubii."

"Oh joy," Naruto grumbled sarcastically, wiping the last traces of blood from Sasuke's wings and wiping down his own crimson hands.

"Shut up. Anyway, on one of her monthly visits, Rubii became pregnant with twins. Tama, looking for a way to destroy the angel's happiness, set a curse upon Rubii. One child would be born of the light and the other of the darkness. The children would grow and eventually one would kill the other. When Rubii's children were born, one with white wings named Seijun and the other with black wings names Aku."

"Purity and Evil, I get it."

"Horrified, Rubii cast Aku away and raised Seijun herself. The years came and went and Seijun grew to become an angel of glory, and Rubii forgot all about Aku. Then, one day, an angel with black wings appeared, demanding the life of Seijun. Rubii, having forgotten both the prophecy and her child, allowed Seijun to fight Aku.

"Following a glorious battle, Seijun managed to slay Aku, and it was at the moment of Aku's death that Rubii remembered her second child. She was crushed at allowing her child's murder that she cast herself from heaven, never to return.

"Tama's curse still lingers on in our clan and every generation an angel of light and an angel of darkness are born. And every generation, the angels do battle and one stands alone as victor."

"Every… generation…" Naruto squinted his eyes in thought. "Then, if you're the angel of light, then the angel of darkness is…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and hissed into his pillow, "Itachi."

* * *

Wooha! -glomps Kakashi- I finally got my muse back!

Kakashi: Yeah, well, I -- -gets taken by Gem-

Angel: Gah! Oh well. I had him back for two seconds… -glances down; spies Icha Icha Paradise- Book! -dives for it but is shoved aside by Itachi-

Itachi: We are not fighting over this again! -puts it into plot hole for later taking out-

Angel: -grumblegrumble- Ah well. I tried. -ahem- To my reviewers! Yes, I know I've been away from this fic for quite a bit, but I do live! And for those of you who have noticed, I actually came up with this idea after reading the DNAngel manga, but I guess Haibane was on the brain. So, since I don't own Naruto, till next time!


End file.
